CIU Announces Tammy Holder as First Women’s Basketball Coach

Coach Tammy Holder is introduced to the CIU student body during a Chapel service.

September 25, 2012

Columbia International University continues to expand its new athletics program with the hiring of veteran women’s basketball coach Tammy Holder. Holder, who has over 25 years of basketball coaching experience, comes to CIU from the College of Charleston where she served the NCAA Division 1 school as an assistant coach.

Holder’s college experience also includes head coaching positions at USC-Spartanburg and Cal State University Northridge, and serving as assistant coach at the University of Richmond and the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Holder has professional experience as head coach of the Seattle Reign, the first professional women’s basketball franchise in Seattle.

Holder majored in Health and Physical Education at the College of William & Mary where she was a four-year letter winner in basketball and tennis. She finished her collegiate basketball career in William & Mary’s top-20 in both scoring and rebounding and fourth in free throw percentage. Holder earned a master’s degree in Education from the University of Richmond.

The inaugural season for CIU women’s basketball is 2013, so Holder is ready to begin recruiting for the Christian university.

“This will be a challenge, but one I enthusiastically accept,” Holder said. “I know this is the most important coaching position I have ever held, and I take this opportunity very seriously. I am thrilled to be a part of Columbia International University and everything that it stands for.”

CIU men’s basketball, coached by Kyle Mendenhall also begins in 2013. The first men’s soccer team and first men’s and women’s cross country teams are currently in the middle of their inaugural seasons.

This year marks the first time in CIU’s 90-year history that it has fielded intercollegiate athletic teams. CIU plays in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). For more on CIU athletics visit www.ciu.edu/athletics.